The economics of large-scale datacenters is changing largely due to software-defined networking (SDN). Networking is shifting to software control, creating software-defined datacenters that consist of "the entire stack of compute, storage and networking."

An important aspect of the emergence of the software controlled network and the programmable datacenter is that APIs are the key point of control. Each component of the network can be controlled using APIs; SDN Controllers themselves have "Northbound APIs" and use the OpenFlow API to talk to switches.

"Software-defined networking is creating an important new era of networking innovation that will be defined and driven by APIs," said Chet Kapoor, Apigee CEO. "The ecosystem of apps being built around SDN -- everything from simple task automation to advanced control logic and network management -- will create more agile, efficient, flexible, and robust networking configurations."

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and the programmable datacenter are very complex topics. Apigee has written a whitepaper on API Management for the Software-Defined Network (SDN) and will have a live WebCast in October. To register for the live webcast and to download a PDF copy of the whitepaper, please visit the Apigee Website.